YouTube Blocks Pro-Israel Muslim's Video as 'Hate Speech'
After more than 100,000 people signed a petition asking YouTube to restore a U.S. conservative group's video of a Muslim who shared how his Israel visit "de-radicalized" him, the video-sharing website has now partially made it available online. YouTube earlier alleged the video carried "hate speech."
The video, titled, "Born to Hate Jews," and posted to YouTube by Prager University, features an interview with a British Muslim, Kasim Hafeez, who is a pro-Israel activist.
"Instead of making it viewable to all users … YouTube has blocked the video for any users watching in Restricted Mode, which many parents, schools and libraries use to prevent children from watching explicit content," says the group, whose mission is to "explain and spread what we call 'Americanism' through the power of the Internet."
Get Our Latest News for FREE
The video, in which Hafeez explains how he overcame the anti-Semitic indoctrination that radicalized him from an early age, was briefly entirely removed from YouTube. "Within hours of the video's release Monday morning, YouTube flagged it for 'hate speech' and took it down," the group says. "PragerU is disputing YouTube's removal of the video," which is about "fighting anti-Semitism!"
The video has been watched more than 500,000 times.
It's the 18th PragerU video that YouTube is currently blocking for anyone watching in Restricted Mode. Many families enable restricted mode in order to keep inappropriate and objectionable adult and sexual content away from their children – not to prevent them from watching animated, age-appropriate, educational videos, the group says.
"There is no excuse for Google and YouTube censoring and restricting any PragerU videos, which are produced with the sole intent of educating people of all ages about America's founding values," the group adds.
PragerU says its videos are "the most persuasive, entertaining, and educational case possible for the values that have made America and the West the source of so much liberty and wealth." It adds, "These values are Judeo-Christian at their core and include the concepts of freedom of speech, a free press, free markets and a strong military to protect and project those values."
The PragerU videos YouTube is blocking for anyone watching in Restricted Mode include "What Should We Do About Guns?" "Are The Police Racist?" "Why Don't Feminists Fight for Muslim Women?" "Who's More Pro-Choice: Europe or America?" "Did Bush Lie About Iraq?" "Who NOT to Vote For Israel: The World's Most Moral Army" and "Radical Islam: The Most Dangerous Ideology."
